SOUTHWEST COLORADO RECYCLING STUDY. How the heck did we get here? Identified Need/Desire Funding ...

SOUTHWEST COLORADO

RECYCLING STUDY

How the heck did we get here?

Identified Need/Desire Funding Recycling Task Force

Ground Zero

Policies Vary Across the Region

2014 Municipal Solid Waste Stats

99,000 people

107,000 total tons MSW

5.9 pounds/ capita-day (ppcd)

Archuleta County;

13%

La Plata County;

61%

Montezuma County (incl

Dolores), 24%

San Juan County; 1%

Other; 2%

How Southwest Colorado Compares

78%

19%

3%

Recycled Composted Disposed

State of Colorado (2013)

66%

26%

8%

United States (2013)

Land-filled 86%

(91,000 tons)

Recy-cled 13%

(14,000

tons)

Diverted Organics 1%

(2,000 tons)

SWCCOG Region (2014)

Breakdown by County

Archuleta County - 3% diversion

Montezuma County (incl Dolores County) - 7% diversion

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

Landfilled

Recycled

Diverted Organics

Cortez diverts ~5%

Durango diverts 32% of MSW city hauls

SWCCOG MSW Composition (by weight)

Glass; 8.8%Metal; 6.5%

Plastics; 12.7%

Paper; 24.2%

Organics; 37.5%

Other; 9.8%

LANDFILL NUMBERS

Tip Fees for MSW* Archuleta = $52/ton

La Plata = $46/ton

Montezuma = $39/ton

Landfill Capacities Archuleta – 20 to 30 years

La Plata – at least 20 years

Montezuma – over 40 years (full build-out)

* Fees converted to $/ton as needed

Residential v. Commercial (100% scale)

Residential

Commercial

OtherOrganicsPaperPlasticsMetalsGlass

Bayfield & Ignacio – high glass

Durango - high com-mercial cardboard

Durango – high com-mercial PET & HDPE bottlesPagosa Springs – high residential PET bottles

Durango & Pagosa Springs - high residential scrap metal

Every Rural Area Struggles with: Low Recyclables Tons

Low population/density

Lack of policy incentives

Long Hauls

High Cost/Low Revenues

Bigger environmental footprint

Small Program Issues

Decentralized Programs

Even fewer tons/higher unit costs

Reinventing the wheel - inefficient use of resources

Every program Collects different materials

Gives different messages

Uses different markets

Confused Public

Frustrated by variability

Inadequate motivation to participate

Name of Game = Increasing Tons

Why Meet sustainability

goals

Improve system economics

Improve stability & longevity of both public & private sector services

How Policies that drive

diversion

Regionalize

Effective public education & outreach (both residential & commercial)

Organics recovery

What Can SWCo Achieve By 2025?

If All Recyclables & Organics Recovered . . .

Landfilled Recycled Diverted Organics

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000 47%

24%

29%

If Current Recovery Levels Are Doubled . . .

Landfilled Recycled Diverted Organics

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

72%

19%

10%

Challenges for Rural Recycling Distance to market

Distance Between Communities

Local government(s) policy(s)

Education

Low value of recyclables

Increasing Rural Recycling Hub and Spoke Models

Public/Private Partnerships

Education

Communication

Contact Information

Miriam Gillow-WilesSouthwest Colorado

Council of Governments

970.779.4592director@swccog.org

www.swccog.org